Why this site exists
The Virginia Jellyfish Report started with a question our family asked every summer weekend: "are the jellyfish bad today?" The answer actually exists — the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and NOAA both publish daily sea nettle forecasts — but it was buried in research sites most beachgoers never find, drawn as scientific maps most people never learn to read.
So we built the site we wanted: check your beach in five seconds, get a plain answer, go enjoy the water.
What we do
Every morning we pull the day's forecasts from VIMS and NOAA, read them for more than forty Virginia beaches and every coastal city and county, and translate the science into plain language: a percent chance and a simple Light, Moderate, or Heavy label. We rank every beach daily, track how each spot has trended, and add local details that matter for a beach day, like parking, lifeguard seasons, and closures. Where the Virginia Department of Health tests water quality, we surface their swimming advisories too.
The full method, including what the forecast can and cannot tell you, is on the about the data page. The short version: the numbers are a modeled chance, not a count, and posted lifeguard flags always beat any forecast.
Who runs it
This is a small independent project run by a Virginia local — not a media company, and not affiliated with VIMS, NOAA, or any government agency. We just believe public science should be usable by the public.
The site is free, updated every morning of the season, and supported by affiliate links and advertising so it can stay that way. Corrections and local knowledge make it better: if a beach detail is wrong or your morning at the water didn't match our label, tell us at [email protected] or through the contact page.